# data[].attributes.body
In class for our final assessment, we are analyzing a case study. The main purpose of this assignment is to apply our knowledge of the cognitive and behavioural approaches that we have learned in this course to assist the patient. In the case  study we learn about out client, Jane. Jane has been complaining about chest pain, she has been referred to medical professionals and all have stated there no sign of any cardiac problems or any other physiological illnesses. For the assesment, we are required to indicate 4 strategies that we will use to work with Jane.
I personally think this assignment is very relevant and helpful when continuing on with this program and even considering future career post college. Being able to determine what factors will and will not help a patient with the information given is something that we will be seeing a lot in a professional setting. getting the practice to complete an assignment like this will allow us to go into great depth about this concept and get feedback on out work. I am excited to get started with the assignment and I am excited to share our thoughts with the class as well!

# data[].attributes.body
I personally think these padlets have been a big part of my learning process in this class. I have learnt a number of valuable skills in an in class setting with the role plays and case study, but being able to summarize what I have learned and add my own personal experiences and view on the subject really helps me get an understanding of what I know and what I need to potentially read up on more to get a better understanding. Having the freedom of being able to write whatever we want in terms of what we have learned in the course really gives me the chance to explore topics that we maybe didn’t have a chance to look at in depth in class. I have noticed that I add a number of my own views on many of the topics, this helps me get a better understanding of the topic as I can relate to my own experiences. I have enjoyed writing my padlet journal entries about some of the extra resources posted on blackboard for the course. Being able to summarize these sources whether they are articles or videos really gave me an in depth understanding of these sources. Now that I have gotten used to the idea of writing a few journal entries a week for this class, I am going to try and carry this out to my everyday life, meaning I will try and write in my personal journal everyday.

# data[].attributes.body
What is DBT (Dialectical Behaviour Therapy)? DBT is a type of talking therapy that mainly focuses on the emotions and behaviours that affect our lives. There are 4 modes of treatment delivery, those 4 modes are…

Individual treatment: individual treatment for DBT is identifying missing skills and having the therapist guiding you as an individual how to increase new DBT skills in order to move towards positive behaviour. This happens once a week for as long as the client/ therapist feels it is necessary.

Group skills training: this is when a therapist is helping a group of individuals. There are 5 skill modules for group skills training, this includes core mindfulness, distress tolerance skills, emotion regulation skills, walking the middle path, and finally interpersonal effectiveness skills.

Telephone crisis coaching: the main purpose of this is to instruct individuals how to cope with everyday situations using DBT skills. There is a therapist available to call and the individual needing will get assistance from the therapist when the time comes and the individual needs help the most.

Therapists consultation group: support for the therapist is one of the most important factors for the rest of the modes to work. This concept is when the therapist get together on a weekly basis and they discuss practices, skills and support each other to work in high risk and difficult situations.

# data[].attributes.headline
 How I have developed my skills in emotion regulation

# data[].attributes.subject
 How I have developed my skills in emotion regulation

# data[].attributes.body
After reading the article What is Emotion Regulation and how do we do it? By Abigail Rolston, BA and Elizabeth Lloyd-Richerdson, PHD, I was able to get a better understanding of the idea of emotion regulation and how I can apply this practice to my everyday livelihood. Everyone experiences emotions a number of times everyday, these emotions can be both positive and negative. These emotions can often be very overwhelming and hard to regulate them especially when they are negative emotions such as anger and sadness. As they describe in the article, emotion regulation is an individual's ability to manage their emotions and knowing how to respond when feeling these emotions. Examples listed of healthy ways to regulate your emotions include talking with friends, exercising, writing in a journal, meditation, therapy, taking care of self when physically ill, getting adequate sleep, paying attention to negative thoughts that occur before or after string emotions and noticing when you need a break- and taking it. There are also unhealthy ways to regulate emotions such as abusing alcohol or other substances, self-harm, avoiding or withdrawing from difficult situations, physical or verbal aggression, excessive social media use, to the exclusion of other responsibilities. I have found that I have been able to approach my emotion regulation in a different and better manner than I did before. I found that I would get very frustrated when someone made me either mad or sad. I would get very aggressive as I didn’t know how else to regulate my emotions. I can confirm that I now know how to regulate my emotions. Now when I get mad or sad I tend to go for a walk/ go to the gym, clean, distract myself with either school work or watching Netflix. These notions play a very significant role in how I view emotion regulation as I know there are good ways to deal with it and not just negative ways. One thing that I do really want to get into more is journaling. I do this a few times a week but I personally think that writing in a journal everyday will be very beneficial even if I am not experiencing any strong emotions. Being self aware of your day and any emotions on a daily basis can help me develop as an individual.

# data[].attributes.body
At the beginning of the semester we completed a self care plan assignment. For this assignment we needed to come up with a plan in order to improve our health and well being, manage our stress and anxiety and maintain our professionalism as a helping professional. For part A we were required to note down examples of how we can work on certain elements of self care in our everyday life. The elements included…

Physical-I will try and get some sort of physical activity everyday. This can be in form of a walk, or even going to the gym and doing weight training. I will monitor my progress by

keeping tabs on my phone on the health app

Psychological- I want to get in the habit of listening to podcasts about self- awareness and self-care. This will help me when I am feeling flustered about my life. I want to start listening to podcasts when I get frustrated or am feeling overwhelmed. I will try and keep a count of the number of times I get overwhelmed or frustrated in a day and see how many times I listen to a podcast after having those feelings. This will keep me accountable for completing this.

Emotional- An emotional self-care plan I would like to try having a journal. I will write in this journal every day, this will include simple things like what I have done during the day, feelings, and maybe include factors that I can do to make the next day better. I will make this part of my night routine to ensure I complete it everyday.

Spiritual- Meditation is something I’ve never tried but have heard it can be very beneficial to spiritually heal someone. I would try and meditate when I feel overwhelmed or stressed about something whether it’s school, or something else going on.

Relationship- I will make sure to maintain a relationship with my friends by texting them everyday, including my friends in Ottawa. I will also try to call my parents and grandparents once a week to check in on them and see how they are doing. I will monitor this by setting a reminder on my phone to ensure I do all these things.

workplace/ school- For school, I will ensure to get my work done well before the deadline as it will reduce the stress caused by rushing to complete the assignments. I will write down all my assignments and when they are due in an agenda to ensure I know everything that is due and when so I can get it done with enough time to spare.

Overall assessment of what I have accomplished: Overall I have been working to at least get started on these goals. I can say that I have been more active physically as I have been going for more walks with my friends. The next step is to start going to the gym which I do intend on getting back to when I go back to Ottawa for the summer. For the psychological goal, I have been listening to more podcasts, these vary from podcasts about Gilmore Girls (my favorite show) to lighten up my mood to murder mysteries to get to a more serious and fascinating note. In terms of my emotional goals, I have not been journaling everyday but I have been journaling a few days a week. I personally think this is a good start and I will hopefully start increasing the amount of journal entries I complete a week. Meditation is my spiritual goal, I have not yet done this goal other than in class. I did like the experience in class as it was relaxing and I was able to be mindful but I tend to get very distracted and impatient. I feel that if I meditate more often it can be a valuable part of my day. Relationships can be hard to keep up with especially with school and in my case moving to a different city. I noted that I wanted to maintain a close relationship with my friends in Ottawa by keeping in contact with them. I can say I have definitely been keeping in touch with them either with text or even facetime. Finally, workplace and school. I have mentioned that I always make sure to get my notes written out before going to class as it gives me an understanding of what will be tough in class. I continue to keep up with this and I hope to do this for the rest of my school (and apply it to the rest of my life including my work).

# data[].attributes.body
Being able to participate in a number of different mindfulness practices shown by other groups was very beneficial. There was one practice in particular that both the other groups did that I found very interesting, this was writing down gratitude/ what you are grateful for. This is something we don’t often think enough about. I enjoyed how we wrote down what we were thankful for then had the opportunity to read out what others were grateful for. Reading and hearing what others are grateful for made me think about what else I could have put on my own list. This is a good mindful practice as if there are any worries we have in our life, it helps us realize that we are still very fortunate with the things and opportunities we have. There were a few groups that had a video to guide us through our breathing. I personally do not like these as I don’t have something to be doing so I tend to lose focus and get frustrated. I focus on things like what I have to get done, and the other little things like how I am physically feeling (how my body hurts).

# data[].attributes.body
In today’s class we had the opportunity to perform a mindfulness exercise with the class. Personally, I know I am not good at focusing during meditation videos as I get patient and frustrated. Physical activity is something that I personally think is something that helps with mindfulness if done properly. The main focus of our mindfulness practice comes from the idea that morning thoughts are fresh and a foundation in starting our day. By being mindful in a moment that sometimes comes such sooner than we would like, we are able to set the stage for a day of positive thinking. We walked everyone through a morning stretch. This practice can be suitable for anyone but those specifically experiencing difficulties with motivation or again avoidance (something I can relate to). Although, for some, waking up is the worst part of the day. This techniques can be very helpful, but would take time for the client to truly see the helpful-routine forming of this technique. Overall I think this went very well in class. We got positive feedback as most people thought it was relaxing and many said they want to make this part of their morning routine. We also got the comment that it may have been a bit too short. As I do agree, part of being mindful is being able to adjust accordingly to what works best for you. For those who had the feeling it was a bit too short, you can do the stretching multiple times until you feel satisfied and ready to start the day. After doing research on mindfulness practices, I am looking forward to seeing what Ideas others have in class.

# data[].attributes.headline
My personal Experience With Practicing Mindfulness 

# data[].attributes.subject
My personal Experience With Practicing Mindfulness 

# data[].attributes.body
Why to practice mindfulness? It helps reduce stress and enhances your sense of well-being, it can help you to understand techniques for clients, you can motivate clients to practice it as you can share personal experiences. Mindfulness is a state of awareness, the core practice of awareness is breathing. There are a number of different forms of mindfulness that are often practiced, this includes reading, journaling, yoga, physical activity, coloring, listening to music, walks/ run/ hikes. To be honest, I have not personally thought of many of the things I do in the sense of practicing mindfulness. As I have learned more about this idea and have had the time to practice this in a classroom setting, I am able to apply this to my everyday routine. Personally, ways that I prefer to practice mindfulness are by doing some sort of physical activity. I prefer to go to the gym and train with weights as it is a good way to focus on myself and get rid of any negative energy. I also enjoy going for walks to the lake, there is something very calming about going to the lake and sitting there watching the water that gives a sense of security. It is easy to get held up in your head but focusing on practicing mindfulness is something that I subconsciously do. Listening to music is something I definitely enjoy doing to help me relax and it often helps me when I am focusing on factors that I do not need to worry about. I think it is important for me to be practicing mindfulness as I can help others in my future career or even help those who are having trouble getting into practicing mindfulness.

# data[].attributes.body
Today in class we learned about mindfulness and what you can do to help yourself be more self aware of your mindfulness. We took the time to do mindful meditation. This meditation was a video presented by Jon Kabat-Zinn’s. His definition of mindfulness was “mindfulness is awareness that arises though paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally” (Kabat-Zinn, 2018). During the meditation, Jon was walking us through out breathing, he also gave us minutes at a time to focus on our breathing without him talking. I am not one to meditate and I generally lose patients when I do. During this video I had my eyes closed and head on the table. At first I found myself really focusing on the meditation and being self aware of my breathing. I found that as he was talking about breathing I was overwhelmed and started to focus too much on how often I was inhaling and exhaling. I started to lose patients and my thoughts got the best of me the longer we went on with the video. I was focusing on anything and everything but my breathing. I noticed that my back was starting to get uncomfortable, my body was so warm and I was adjusting myself as I was getting inpatient. As for the second meditation we did, mantra meditation, I felt that it was a lot easier for me to focus. This was done by the prof, as she was talking we had to have a word of sentence in mind. It was a 5 minute meditation and I felt that I was more focused because I had something to think of the whole time and it was a shorter amount of time.

# data[].attributes.body
Behavioral activation is a way to approach mental health in the way that it focuses on using behavior to activate an emotion that you want/ an emotion that is more pleasant than the one you are currently experiencing that is not so pleasant. Behavioral activation is putting the action first; meaning the individual does not necessarily need to feel motivated, but will still benefit from performing this action. Behavioral activations are most often used with those that have depression. Being able to accomplish a list of activities is generally the main goal when working with someone that has depression. Translating values into activities is a very important thing to do; this can be done by making a chart. Make a list of daily activities, next to each one of these activities have a rating system out of 10 (10 being very difficult to complete, 1 being very simple to complete). Make a chart for everyday you have to complete these activities and as time passes you will be able to compare the difficulty ratings. This gives a good idea on how to adjust and if you need to adjust your behavioral activations.

# data[].attributes.headline
Reduce depression with behavioral activation: CBT and DBT skills video

# data[].attributes.subject
Reduce depression with behavioral activation: CBT and DBT skills video

# data[].attributes.body
Behaviour activation requires the action of starting small and gradually building out way up

3 main types of activity: Pleasure or enjoyment, accomplishment or achievement, social interaction

Doing anything in general is exhausting such as taking a shower, making a coffee, getting your day starting on a good note as there is a significant amount of motivation that is lacking. Doing small things everyday is very beneficial as it can help build to do the bigger things. Being social is one of the major issues that can cause lots of stress on an individual. Going out to parties or big gatherings can be very overwhelming so starting off with smaller intersections such as talking to someone on the phone or even texting are good ways to start.

Rumination: “The main determinant of why some emotions last longer than others. Emotions associated with high levels of rumination will last longest” ruminating less will help raise out spirits and mood. Behavioural activation diary is a good source to aid in the process of healing.

# data[].attributes.body
In class today we did a role play to demonstrate the importance of the SMART goals and OARS when problem solving in a professional setting. For my group, our problem was that the clients' grades are significantly lower than the previous semester and are lacking the motivation to reach out for extra help and do not know where to start. For the role play, the majority of our time was spent on distinguishing what the SMART goals are and how they can effectively be taken in to consideration when solving the problem…

Specific: what will be accomplished? What action will you take? The client will be able to make a study plan and will be held accountable to complete this study plan throughout the semester

Measurable: what data will measure the goal? How much, how well? The client will reach out to the teacher and get extra school work, they will spend an hour a day completing this extra work.

Achievable: is the goal doable? Do you have the necessary skills and resources? Yes it is doable as the patient previously mentioned that they had good grades and good work ethics last semester but are just lacking motivation this semester.

Relevant: How does the goal align with border goals? Why is the result important? The client expresses the importance of having good grades as it will benefit her in the future years of the program she is in and it will eventually help her get a high ranking job post college/ university.

Time: what is the time frame for accomplishing the goal? The client mentions that she will work on the study plan throughout the semester. She has all semester to work on the plan and make any changes accordingly.

Other factors to consider as a therapist when helping a client with problem solving are…

Motivational interviewing strategies:

Express empathy

Empower the patient- you are capable, and the evidence has shown us this

Problem solving strategies:

Define the goal- managing school and marks

Discuss the idea of confidence around the school work- do you have efficacy?

Brainstorm- what can be done and how so it is done in the most effective way possible

Scheduling homework time

Addressing stress related to school and working on acceptance

A few other components that we tried to add to our role play was expressing empathy, empowering the patient, discussing the idea of confidence- efficacy, scaling questions, and letting them give their point of view and asking questions like what is holding you back?

Personally I thought this role play was very helpful to understand how to effectively help a patient come up with a plan on solving a problem and helping them realize there is a problem. There were a number of points to think about when helping a patient solve a problem especially when using the SMART goals. You must ensure to explain what the SMART goals are. Explain each component and how you will apply each one of these components to their problem as an individual. Ensuring to summarize everything that was established during the session will also helpful for the client as it gathers all the main points brought up. Overall, the in class role play was very beneficial and I am looking forward to applying what I learnt in class in a professional environment.

# data[].attributes.body
I haven encountered a number of different incidents where I need to help individuals solve a problem. For me, there are a few things that I do almost every time I am helping someone solve a problem. First of all, let the person talk. This is so important as it gives you an idea of how severe the problem is, and it gives you the opportunity to understand what the problem is. If the person is hesitant to talk about the problem, then give them time to gather their thoughts and make sure you are giving them a safe and calming environment to do so. Once you have determined the problem, I like to first ask the individual what they want to do to solve the issue. Giving them these questions allows them to really reflect and it gives them power over the situation. Once they have given their ideas and thoughts, that's when I would usually come in and try and give them assistance. I always try to give them as much power over the situation but also make sure to voice my opinion (only if they want it).

# data[].attributes.body
Problem solving therapy (PST) is something that is often done by psychologists when encountered with a patient that is experiencing difficulty resolving problems. These problems can vary from minor issues to very serious problems. There are five steps of problem solving, these steps include…

1. Identifying and solve the problem

2. Brainstorm positive solutions

3. Choose the preferred solution

4. Create an action plan

5. Evaluate the outcomes and success

Although these steps can greatly aid to solve others problems, there are also obstacles that may run into. One very major obstacle would be the inability to express emotions from the client. It is often very difficult for clients to express their feelings but this also makes it very hard for the one helping to fully understand the problem and think of a way to help. Something that can help this is giving the client time to open up and always providing a safe environment for when that happens.

# data[].attributes.body
Self motivation can be a very tricky topic for everyone. For me, I find some days are easier than others to self motivate. Recently, the action to self motivate is hard as the things I usually do to self motivate don’t seem to be as effective as they used to be. A few main things that I have been trying to do to motivate myself to get my daily routine going are...

Keeping my room/ area clean

Making lists of tasks I need to get done- so I don’t forget anything

Setting goals for the day

Maintaining self care

# data[].attributes.body
There are a number of different ways that I tend to self regulate my emotions when they get out of control.

Playing sports/ working out

I value exercise very much as it is one of my main stress relievers. I have grown up playing all kinds of sports from a very young age, soccer was the sport I played most often but in school I tried to play as many as I could. Since I have stepped back from playing soccer, I find going to the gym is another good source of exercise.

I enjoy spending time with my friends

When I am stressed or feeling overwhelmed I find that spending time with my friends is a good way to distract myself from what I was stressed or overwhelmed about.

Going for walks with my dog

Going for walks with my dog is a very good way to distract myself from any unwanted emotions. Walking my dog is very relaxing as I listen to music and go for a nice long walk. I really enjoy sunsets so I try to take her for walks during the sunset or I even take her to a beach near my house.

# data[].attributes.body
Steps to self regulate emotions: there are a few steps that I take to self regulate my emotions when I feel they are going to get out of control

Identify the emotion

Tune into physical symptoms

Consider the story that I am telling myself

Engage in positive self- talk

Make a choice on how to respond

Look for positive emotions

Decide how you want to approach a resolution

# data[].attributes.body
Core beliefs are the automatic thoughts one thinks of. This is most often than not something that is developed as you grow and continues to carry when you are fully grown. Core beliefs are usually developed when you are young by observing the thoughts and feelings of those you are around the most. As you grow you learn to change those core beliefs or even develop new ones. Core beliefs can be either positive or negative but in this day and age it is more common for people to believe in negative core beliefs.

Common positive core beliefs:

Life is good

I'm confident

People always like me

I can do anything I want to do

I'm good at a lot of things

Good things happen when you make them happen

Others will help me

I can do it

Common negative core beliefs:

I am worthless

I am a failure

I am a bad person

I cannot trust my judgment

# data[].attributes.body
We all present a form of cognitive distortion whether we realize it or not. This includes our internal thoughts and biases on certain factors or ideas that we build in our heads. This can often make us feel bad about ourselves. There are a number of different forms of cognitive distortions which include…

# data[].attributes.body
The idea and works of a therapeutic alliance is a complex but fascinating subject when looking at how to build a relationship with your clients. Therapeutic alliance is the interaction between the patient and therapist

Beginning:

Create report on client- brief

Note the clients concerns

Make a plan on when/ where to visit client

Patient perspective:

Get clients point of view about the problem

Determine external factors that could be impacting the client

Empathy Demonstration:

Be open with patients emotions

Make supportive comments

Be warm, positive and validating

End:

Provide diagnostic information

Provide educational information/ counseling

Make sure to get clients views/ ideas about the decisions being made